New Catholic chaplain assigned to Hill AFB

Courtesy photo

+ Enlarge

Father Aaron Ferris

LAYTON — Father Aaron Ferris has been assigned as the Catholic chaplain at Hill Air Force Base.

A native of Michigan, Fr. Ferris visited Utah some years ago, but acknowledges that “my first time does not count for much. I was 2 years old when my family drove through Utah, taking the scenic route from Michigan to Seattle. I do not remember that first visit, but I can say for this trip that my time in Utah has been wonderful.”

Ordained a priest for the Diocese of Grand Rapids, Mich. on June 6, 2009, Fr. Ferris felt his calling when he was young.

“I knew I wanted to be a priest from about seventh or eighth grade, but I did not pursue it until I was in college,” he said.

After a year at a local college in Michigan, he transferred to Seton Hall University in New Jersey and entered St. Andrew’s College Seminary. From there he went to Mundelein Seminary, which is north of Chicago.

After ordination, he served for 13 years in several parishes in different assignments as canonical administrator, associate pastor and pastor in several churches around his home diocese in Michigan.

As with any other human life, priesthood has its ups and downs, but “I have loved my time as a priest. I am doing what God made me to do, and with that comes true fulfilment in life,” he said.

In the years since he was ordained, Fr. Ferris has met many men and women who have served in the armed forces.

“Some had been drafted; others had volunteered. Some did their one tour and got out; some made it a career for 20 years or more; some fell in between,” Fr. Ferris said.

These encounters made him more fully appreciate the needs of all members of the armed forces.  

“It is a life like no other, and there is a great need for priests to serve those in uniform and their families,” he said adding that that is especially true when those people have been deployed and the chaplain may be the only Catholic priest for hundreds of miles.  

Over time, as he listened to the stories of those men and women who had served in the military, he saw a need, and decided he could do something about.

“The Lord put it in my heart to serve him and his people in the military,” he said.

“Developing this sense of service is vital both to heeding God’s call in one’s life and to finding that peace and satisfaction that we all desire. ... Our lives find their greatest meaning in serving others: serving God and his Church, serving family and neighbors, serving our nation and all our brothers and sisters around the world,” Fr. Ferris said, adding that in whatever ways priests serve, “it is there that we find the fulfilment and satisfaction that we all desire in life.”

In July, Fr. Ferris was commissioned as a captain in the United States Air Force. He arrived in Utah in October.

“I am here in Utah because I believe that this is where the Lord wants me to be as well. The Lord, by way of the United States Air Force, sent me to Hill AFB,” he said.

Although for the time being his main service will be ministering to the men and women in uniform, Fr. Ferris said he is looking forward to serving in other ways while he is stationed at Hill AFB.  

“I have been warmly welcomed by the priests of the Diocese of Salt Lake and I look forward to serving alongside them in whatever ways I can,” he said. “Indeed, all the people I have met have been so gracious and welcoming. I am looking forward to my time here, however long the Air Force keeps me here, and I hope to meet many along the way.”